Ministers of a New Covenant

3 Are we beginning to ^(A)commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, ^(B)letters of commendation to you or from you? ^2 (C)You are our letter, having been written in our hearts, known and read by all men, ³ being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, ^(D)ministered to by us, having been written not with ink but with the Spirit of ^(E)the living God, not on ^(F)tablets of stone but on ^(G)tablets of hearts of ^(H)flesh.

⁴ And such ^(I)confidence we have through Christ toward God. ⁵ Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but ^(J)our sufficiency is from God, ⁶ who also made us sufficient as ^(K)ministers of a ^(L)new covenant, not of ^(M)the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but ^(N)the Spirit gives life.

⁷ But if the ^(O)ministry of death, ^(P)in letters having been engraved on stones, came ^[a]with glory, ^(Q)so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, which was being brought to an end, ⁸ how will the ministry of the Spirit not be even more in glory? ⁹ For if ^(R)the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ^(S)ministry of righteousness abound in glory. ¹⁰ For indeed what had been glorious, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹ For if that which was being brought to an end was ^[b]with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

^12 (T)Therefore having such a hope, ^(U)we use great boldness, ¹³ and are not like Moses, ^(V)who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the consequence of what was being brought to an end. ¹⁴ But their minds were ^(W)hardened; for until this very day at the ^(X)reading of ^(Y)the old covenant the same veil ^[c]remains unlifted, because it is brought to an end in Christ. ¹⁵ But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart, ¹⁶ but ^(Z)whenever a person turns to the ^[d]Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where ^(AA)the Spirit of the Lord is, ^(AB)there is freedom. ¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled face, ^(AC)beholding as in a mirror the ^(AD)glory of the Lord, are being ^(AE)transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from ^(AF)the Lord, the Spirit.